Part 1: Software
The Importance of Digital Security
Since we’re all talking about the corona-virus, I thought it appropriate to discuss the importance of keeping our devices safe with anti-virus. People tend to trust technology a little too much. Let’s discuss how we can keep our digital lives as clean as our doorknobs.
It’s hard to believe, but technology is now pretty mature. Most things we use on a daily or weekly basis (smartphones, social media, Google) are at least 10 years old, if not 15 or 20 years old. For example, the iPhone is 13 years old, and Google is 23 years old (based on when they registered the domain). This means that attackers have had plenty of time to really learn the inter-workings of all (literally) computer hardware and software, including Apple’s iOS, macOS, as well as Android, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.
What does anti-virus software actually do? Also known as anti-malware, its main purpose is to monitor your computer for potential threats, and remove them if necessary. Think of it as Vitamin C for your computer.
“I’ve never had any issues.”
Famous last words.
I’ve helped several people with their computers that had been hacked or just full of malware. One time in college, my friend’s computer was riddled with malware. She had downloaded all kinds of anime and visited all kinds of sites for Japanese art. Rule number one: do not download anything from weird places. That’s like eating gas station sushi. Thankfully, Malwarebytes (linked below) was able to clean things up quite nicely. She didn’t lose any data and learned a valuable lesson on downloading “free” stuff.
Another time I was helping a client with some server maintenance. While I was working, he was hit with ransomware (pesky malicious software that encrypts your files while the attacker holds the decryption keys for ransom). I was very confused why none of his files were copying from the server to his computer and why the file names were suddenly changing. Thankfully, I was there while it was happening. Immediately I went into his office and told him what was going on, recommending that we unplug the Internet connection promptly. He agreed, and I ran to the router to unplug. Unfortunately, the way this specific attack worked was not dependent on an Internet connection, so the files were still encrypting. We frantically started copying onto hard drives and flash drives, saving everything we could. After a little research, we found a decryption tool (kinda like an antidote) that worked with this specific version of ransomware. He was running Win Server 2003, and clearly needed an update. We switched him over to a Synology option (highly recommended by us!) and he loves it.
Of course, we also installed anti-virus on the server.
While I was living in Spain, I supported a lot of Macs. There was one time where I helped out a friend with their MacBook. They were the typical computer user: browse the Internet, social media, pay bills, etc. One day, they noticed that every time they opened up the computer, it would take them to a random site that looked like Google, but clearly was not Google. I ran a few checks using Malwarebytes (they make it for Mac too!) and it found a few things, but nothing substantial. However, the problem persisted. I started digging around in the network configuration and found that their DNS settings had been modified. After verifying that they didn’t change their DNS, I reset them back to default and advised that they change their passwords for their banks, social media, email, and anything else they cared about, because something was harvesting their Internet traffic.
Here’s the short version: don’t get stuck without anti-virus software. Something I always ask is, would you leave your house or car unlocked and open all the time? Probably not!
Below are links to the anti-programs that I use personally, as well as here at TSN. There are free and paid versions of all of these. For the most part, the free version is plenty for the average consumer.
As always, please contact us here if you have questions about any of this, or if you have a topic you’d like me to write about. Until next time, wash your hands, social distance, and take care of each other.
-Luke
